Composer/Musician Reacts to NIGHTWISH - Ghost Love Score (LIVE) (REACTION!!!)
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- Опубліковано 20 січ 2020
- Bryan reacts to and talks about his thoughts on NIGHTWISH - Ghost Love Score (OFFICIAL LIVE)
ORIGINAL VIDEO: • NIGHTWISH - Ghost Love...
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These are no keyboard samples - the orchestral backing tracks were recorded specifically for Nightwish by a live London Philharmonic Orchestra, as they are successful enough to afford it.
Well, there seems to be some confusion about which orchestra plays on which album. Sometimes London Philharmonic Orchestra is credited for the first five albums, sometimes London Session Orhestra. According to Wikipedia, on Endless forms most beautiful, there's a specially composed (!) orchestra named "Orchestre de Grandeur". Either way, the common theme is Pip Williams, the director/arranger of the orchestral parts. Pip Williams teaches music technology at the London College of Music, of the University of West London. Here's a nice interview with him: kentapress.wordpress.com/2015/02/22/nightwishs-arranger-pip-williams-from-uk-sits-down-and-tells-it-all-about-endless-forms-most-beautiful/
@@cornflowerofsweden1288 I assume they are smaller groups made up of members of the London Philharmonic, perhaps with some overlaps of members, but I'm no expert. Pip is is certainly the quiet hero behind the symphonic scene, picking who is needed to fill Tuomas's vision and Pip's arrangements of them. I really admire him.
@@cornflowerofsweden1288 First five albums? I thought they hade actual orchestral recordings first on Cenury Child.
@@Akuvision2011 I have no clue, just quoted the article linked.
yes, I think they spent 680,000US on the Dark passion play album which included the orchestra and are still successful now and about to drop a new album.
HUGE Shoutout to the Nightwish Army for gracing my small channel! Thanks for all of the comments, information, and corrections. I've learned a lot about the band as well as this specific performance and I have a ton of recommendations added to the queue for this band as well as similar groups. I've heart-ed a few of the comments that had fantastic information but I figured I should list of some of the stuff that I was most fascinated with.
-- "The orchestral sections were pre-recorded by a live orchestra and then used as backing tracks for live shows." This is much better than what I thought was happening -- that the keyboardist was playing these parts with sampled instruments. This is as close as you can get to having a live orchestra without the nightmare of actually touring with an orchestra. I think I was misunderstood a little when I said I wanted to hear this song with the live orchestra. I understand it isn't feasible to tour with one but I would love to see this song performed with one -- probably a one night event much like Metallica and Bring Me the Horizon have done in the past.
-- "The keyboardist, Toumas, writes a vast majority of the music" This one intrigues me. I don't know how common this practice is but, in my experience, song writing in rock/metal bands is a collaborative process. That isn't to say that having just one songwriter is bad, I just find it a bit unusual.
-- "Floor's vocal range is Eb2 to E6" This is just phenomenal. A four octave range is completely bonkers. And I've read (from a few people) that she also does growls occasionally, just to make her even more amazing.
-- "Nightwish has been around for over two decades and have a few different 'eras' of style and music" This is a journey that I am completely interested in. I love watching how a band evolves over time, not just as they adapt to changing audioscape of musical ideas/tastes but also how they grow within their own styles. 20+ years covers a lot of musical ground and I can't wait to see how they changed, evolved, and honed their skills throughout that time.
Thanks again for all of the information. The Nightwish Army is no joke and I'm glad you enjoyed the video (most of ya did, anyways 😂). Hopefully some decided to stick around, especially since I wasn't kidding about the symphonic metal week.
Yes tuomas writes and composes 95% of the songs but only in demo stage. When demos are ready they all meet usually at finland( at cabin/gottage middle of forest where they even rehals and records the tracks). After listening the demos tuomas asks all do they have good ideas and what they would do diffrent. Sometimes song will be like it was and sometimes they change it a bit.
Regarding the keyboard things both things kinda happen at the same time. There are sampled orchestral instruments (typically the string sections) on top of the backing track. Tuomas likes to play those himself sometimes. But, those are specifically recorded for Nightwish by the orchestra they work with, on a per album basis.
Be careful. If you do a couple of Nightwish songs in a row, there's a strong possibility that you will get sucked into the "Nightwish vortex," and your symphonic metal week will turn into 90-95% Nightwish songs. At least, I hope so...
ua-cam.com/video/GpZMFALYeGc/v-deo.html check Floor out with her former band ReVamp.
There is even a video that shows and explains thier album production, creation process.
Nightwish has recorded orcestrals with London Philharmonic Orchestra since 2004. They actually use real orchestra in their records. Tuomas Holopainen is the composer.
Sounds hollow to his trained ear.
Since 2002*
@@mikkolaine4883 Not with London Philharmonic Orchestra though but yeah Century Child album in 2002 already had orchestra. It was Joensuu City Orchestra.
Yep and The Arranger of the orchestra is Pip Williams, he makes the orchestral arrangements
Considering they have an orchestral track and a choir track playing, the live instruments and vocals must be synched to that. This demonstrates the high degree of professionalism and talent this band has. They must be on timing with the backing tracks otherwise it would sound horrible.
Yep. Especially the drummer has to be spot on, and the others can't miss too much either.
They play to a metronome in their in-ear monitors so they're all in time with each other and the backing tracks.
@@guitar_noodle That's true. On the other hand that's just a tool, they still have to play on their own. The longer the song is, the more impressive it is too.
at the same time, thats basic for professional drummers. Not taking credit, but contextualizing
@@bernardodc9631 It's harder for drummer to sing. It's easy to get winded. It takes more physical effort to play drums. And more coordination.
"That did not feel like a 10 min song" is a common sentiment :P
One of the first thoughts I had... still have even, after watching this performance specifically.
That's because there is nothing boring in this song,. It varies and entertains all the way. Also he was busy narrating all the time, that took attention.
For me it felt like 1 hour lullaby.
She can hold a D6 for 8 seconds. She can sing Pop, Folk, Rock, Metal, Guttural, and Opera. So, she is quite versatile.
The entire song is by design. It wasn't written as a "look at what we can do with our instruments" song.
Floor Jansen really opened my ears to Nightwish! Then hearing her on the Beste Zangers TV show 2019... my goodness I'm convinced she is the best female singer on the planet. She can really make it emotional when she wants, how she wants. Keep digging my friend... only gets better!!
Hello, @ Critical Reactions! Nightwish Army incoming here, just found your reaction on our radar. You seem to know some about this genre.. But since this is your first official Nightwish experience, here are some info that may help you navigate (a short history of the band, concentrated by Ann Waychoff, one of the biggest Nightwish fan):
" Nightwish was started in 1996.They are considered a female fronted symphonic metal band. They are from Finland.
Tuomas Holopainen, the keyboard player, composes and writes the lyrics for 95% of their music. Marco Hietala is the Bassist and vocals .And there is the guitarist Emppu Vuorinen . Then there is Troy Donockley from UK who is a multi-instrulmentalist and vocals. Jukka Nevalainen is the drummer. In 2015 due to Jukka's health issues Kai Hahto became the drummer and as of now is a permanent addition.
Nightwish has had three singers. 1st one was Tarja Turunen (Operatic vocals). She was with them until 2005. The 2nd one was Anette Olzon from Sweden (Poppy, strong vocals). She was with them until 2012.The 3rd and current singer is Floor Jansen, from Netherlands (power, operatic, soprano.....most versatile) - you just saw her.
There are live concerts that you should use depending on what era. From Wishes to Eternity and End of an Era (Tarja), Montreux Festival live 2012 and Exit Festival (Anette), Live at Wacken 2013, Live at Wembley, Live at Tampere, Vehicle of Spirit, Decades live (Floor). I hope this helps.
I want to welcome you to the Nightwish community. I hope you like them enough to continue the journey. Believe me Nightwish will surprise you with their songs. You will never know what to expect. They are unbelievable live. I want to warn you that Nightwish fans are hard core. So be prepared. lol "
Understood this is not the place for reaction requests, but still I'll mention here other Nightwish songs you may like:
"Song Of Myself" live at Wacken 2013 (dark/metal) ua-cam.com/video/lQu5QjidHWg/v-deo.html
"Romanticide" live at Wacken 2013 (metal) ua-cam.com/video/zz_7OCCQlXs/v-deo.html
"Dead Boy's Poem" - live Buenos Aires 2018 (soulful ballad) ua-cam.com/video/S8E3L7ggLMM/v-deo.html
"Ever Dream" live at Wacken 2013 (uplifting vocals) ua-cam.com/video/YwGSAFarHRg/v-deo.html
"Storytime" live at Tampere 2015 (uplifting vocals) ua-cam.com/video/mO6-WkXJYX0/v-deo.html
"My Walden" live at Tampere 2015 (celtic / folk) ua-cam.com/video/J8Xwr1kTEdk/v-deo.html
"Devil & The Deep Dark Ocean" live In Buenos Aires 2018 (epic/metal) ua-cam.com/video/t26r_vAYQ0Q/v-deo.html
And if you want to hear Floor growling :) then try "Yours Is An Empty Hope" live at Wembley 2015 ua-cam.com/video/vyLsU7Q333k/v-deo.html
Thank you! Waiting for more Nightwish reactions.Seeya in the next one.
"I would like a more technical band that could go with the singer", you say. I don't quite understand that statement. Nightwish is just as technical as it is necessary for example to perform this song exactly as it should be. There is no lack of technical or musical skills in this this band. They are precisely the accompaniment that both the song and the virtuoso singer need. An example is the guitar solo. No, it is not technically demanding. But that is exactly not the intention either. It is the musical whole that is intended, and he does this spot on. Just to mention one example.
Well said ebbenielsen7
Jukka in particular is phenomenal. He absolutely smashed this one
Yes, I agree. In this song the band has very strict roles. It seems to me that the main goal in this song is to support Floor as much as possible, since this is her "signature song". Professional musicians do not need to present their technical skills all the time. I like Emppu, because I know that he can do amazing things with guitar, but he doesn't if that does not belong/fit to the song. One has said that the real musicianship is to recognise moments when not to play. That is not much taught in music academies :-)
@@yabby6550 like Marko (the bass) once said ”we don’t need to masturbate with our instruments”.
It would be astonishingly expensive to hire the London Philharmonic Orchestra plus 2 choirs for a tour. Yes Nightwish probably could afford it, but the logistics would be a nightmare.
Sure, NW is sooooo poor ;) If Dimmu Borgir can afford to tour with an orchestra, NW should be able to afford it too!
Yeah... but something like 30 years on road special one time consert could have real symphony orchertra ;) But yeah... in reality it is not very easy thing to do.
@@FarazOloumi Dimmu 'toured with an orchestra'?
How many shows?
Logistics would be hell... 2nd you have to make sure that every stage is big enough to set up the band and the Orchestra can you imagine nore than a 100 people on stage with their instrumemts... what if the stage isnt big enough ? You cut out some musciicians ?
The "The Greatest Show on Earth (Tampere)," and "The Poet and the Pendulum (Wembley)" both show the versatility and range of floor and also the unique and masterfull song composition. They are like art.
Umm... "They are like art"? Here, I fix it for you: They are art.
hi there, Floor's vocal range goes from Eb2 to E6, which makes nearly four octaves.as for the qualities of the other members check out Romaticide same show at Wacken, you will see a whole other side of Nightwish....grts from a dutch guitar player living in Germany, member of the Nightwish Army Orange Legion
I've heard her sing F6 live!
@@NoClueHonestly oh no, that is great..i want see and hear it. Lucky guy 😏🤗
@@ralfmeyer9086 she hits it sometimes during the slide in Romanticide, I think there's one recording on UA-cam from Ilosaarirock or something
On tour with a live orchestra for 10 months? Floor has 1 year classical training. She can sing EVERYTHING. 👌
The strings were not samples. They recorded a live orchestra who played to a click track, then they played it for the performance and played their own instruments to the same click track.
She can hit higher. See Floor and Henk "Phantom of the Opera" live.
Igor Radojičić yes she has such a crazy range
It's not just her range, which is phenomenal. Her versatility is equally astounding, for example her heartbreakingly beautiful and emotional vibrato and control in songs like "Shallow" and "Winner," great rock-style belting in "Romanticide" and deep, guttural growls in "Yours is an Empty Hope." I believe she is one of the best vocalists on the planet, and I don't think I'm alone in that opinion.
@@timpwhit Nope. You're deffinitly not alone .
I will see them live in Utrecht coming wednesday yessssss!!!
@@fritsyt2090 nice I'm going to see her last concert in March. :)
I hope you didn't judge the musicians based on one song. ;) Nightwish's music is very diverse, they have metal songs, ballads, folky stuff and even one jazzy song. One thing I love about the musicians of this band is that they play exactly what the songs need, not what their egos need. :) The whole band is very open-minded. :)
If you want to hear a bit different solo from the guitar player, I suggest Romanticide from Wacken 2013. He gets to shine a bit more. ^_^
Nightwish has been using pre-recorded backing tracks for over 18 years. They have used London Philharmonic Orchestra since 2004. So all the string instruments you heard were real, just not played live. :)
And since the band uses backing tracks in their live shows it's very important to have a skilled band playing the actual live instruments. ;)
No, of course I don't judge musicians based on a single song. Rarely can a band capture everything that they are about in a single track. I usually get a pretty good picture of a group's identity after 3-4 tracks.
@@CriticalReactions Hi and greetings from the Nightwish Army. Don't be afraid, we're friendly. I liked your analysis. Ghost Love Score is what we usually recommend for a first listen, it's sort of Nightwish "lite". The band is very versatile and covers a wide range of styles, often within the same song. They have never toured with a live orchestra, all the classical parts are backing tracks. They have a very heavy tour schedule and having an orchestra follow them all around the globe is not a practical option - Tuomas, the keyboardist and leader of the band (who writes 95% of the music, lyrics and arrangements) has said it in the past.
For a follow-up to the first listen we usually recommend Romanticide from the same concert (Wacken Open Air 2013) in order to get better exposure to the band and what they are capable of. The drums, the guitar and the vocalists (both Floor Jansen and the bassist Marco Hiatala) get special highlights in that performance.
@@PeaceweaponPT 24 years is definitely plenty of time for a band to evolve multiple times. I've received a ton of recommendations, hopefully they cover a wide range of their styles and eras.
What's the jazzy track they have? I didn't know they had one
Like Flavio already said, the song is called Slow Love Slow. Tuomas described the song with a
the word "Twin Peaks-y". :)
So welcome to the wonderful world of Nightwish : ) . That singer is the metal Goddess Floor Jansen and hold onto your hat because you ain't seen nothing yet. Try "Yours is an empty hope" live @ Wembley for a taste of what she can do.
"This song would be better with a live choir and a live orcherstra" Wow what more do you want, the moon on a stick!!!
This festival was towards the end of a 2 year,100 date world tour and the cost would be insane
Exactly.
And, they sound THIS GOOD at an outdoor venue in front of 80,000+ screaming Germans. That's not an easy feat by any stretch of the imagination. Not only that, but this was Floors first tour with Nightwish. This band is amazing
Yeah, the Wacken festival stage doesn't have an orchestra pit. A backing track of an actual orchestra was perfectly fine for the song and venue.
Ice Cold Another thing seems to be missing in the reaction is the fact that this song was 13th of a 16 set (I think I’m right about this). The energy exhibited by Floor and the rest of the band is remarkable. I do think that the reactor was experiencing a Floorgasm.
Don't be hypocrite! Every nightwish fan desire to see this band with a live orchesta. He is not any different.
Floor Jansen is classically trained. But most of her skill is herself. She is hyper versatile. That voice has a ton of work put in it. She is just breathtaking.
It's nice to see a reaction that focuses more on the composition and instruments. There are maybe a hundred reactions to this song already that focus mainly on the singing. Also appreciate the honesty, there are too many reaction channels that just suck up to the fans the whole time and tell them exactly what they want to hear, at least that's the feeling I get, so this is a breath of fresh air.
he focussed solely on the prop around the 4!!! keyboards, not 2, to be honest and even missed the opera part of Floor, because he talked threw the whole song about "the organ"
"Why have I been sleeping on this band?" Ah, the million dollar question. They have a huge fanbase but they are not "mainstream" enough, and maybe their music is not for everybody at first. In fact, I completely missed their first "era" wih Tarja Turunen and Anette Olzon, I remember listening to some songs but it was not my cup of tea at the time. I was a big fan of Grunge and Stoner music, "symphonic metal" seemed like a joke to me back then... well, joke's on me, they have been many times in my country (Spain) but I never saw them live. I can't do enough facepalms when I think how many concerts I missed. Not anymore, I already have a ticket for one of their concerts, and it will not be the last one.
This couldt be my Wordts. I, a great hart Rock Fan discoverd this Band two Years ago. And it's a bammer! No w i very sad, like you, for all the Concerts, i missed here in Hamburg! 😔
I know them from day one but never i was so inlove with Nightwish sinds Floor is joining the band she is at home.. and never was the band so good as now there is a time and a place for everyting.. and before was not are time... now it is🥰
I'm normally a videogame OST kinda guy, but my sister introduced me to Nightwish waaay back in that first era, so I only know the Tarja versions of the songs. IDK, maybe it's the worse sound quality of the concert rip, maybe it's just because it's different, but the OG Ghost Love Score has always moved me. This version, nothing.
Definitely worth checking out more, you seem a real fan of how music is put together. You are in for a treat with this band. They use backing for a lot of their orchestrated stuff.
The background instrumental was recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. It would be amazing to see Nightwish preform with a live orchestra but it’s obviously not feasible to tour worldwide with a full orchestra and choir. Other symphonic metal bands have performed live with orchestras but only for special one off performances. Please do Romanticide live from Wacken ‘13 to see a heavier side of them next!
Tuomas has previously stated that he would love to have live orchestra and choir but when they tour they are like machines and travel for months performing endlessly and he realised that it was simply impossible to expect any orchestra/choir to bear that burden so contents himself with working with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and recording their input.
There are two regiments, the Nightwish Army, and the Nightwish National Guard. The NNG are the ones where only the live concerts with Floor are all you need to see, and nothing before that matters. The Army respects the whole history. Join the Army!
well said
Interesting metaphor. I jumped on the bandwagon for good when Floor joined the band, but I highly respect Tarja also. Even Anette has merit (though I think she was not a good fit for the band- still, her new band is great).
I hate it when people dislike an honest reaction. Do you want UA-cam full of fake reactions just to please your love for your favourite band(s)?
...yeah... honestly a little disappointed with the army here. Me thinks they need to go re-watch Noise.
I didnt agree with everything Critical Reactions said in this video, but seeing different perspectives is a good thing.
She has one year of classical training. She is a vocal beast.
The number of musicians/singers they would need to take on tour with them to replicate their studio renditions would be absolutely insane and the cost would be astronomical. They already had the live orchestra to make the songs in the first place, it's legit.
The structure around the keyboards is a recreation of a sculpture in a Finnish museum.
The dislikes are obviously because he talked almost the whole time, especially over Floor's epic vocals and, as a composer, didn't say too much about what he was hearing. Compared to, for example, Suite Clarity (metal band), in their reactions they say "OK, here's some syncopation, now modulation / key change, there's an oboe, etc." That's what I would mostly expect from a composer.
You missed the whole performance obsessing over the keyboard.
yep i let me head fall down to the desk ... twice ...
@@dumbazz83 met too! he doesn't listen he just talks through the song obsessing over the keyboard and saying difficult words to sound smart.
@@MariPetjari Really a crappy reaction...I have seen so many better ones
And the live symphony
Hm mixed feelings about the reaction.
Genuine it is, but coming from 1st time watching NW I think.
They all belong together, nobody stands out and that is the strong part of Nightwish, to my humble opinion.
Maybe it is worth checking out more songs of Nightwish and just a suggestion wait with the Greatest show on Earth and the Poet and the Pendulum, do them at a later date.
You can go with Romanticide, Storytime, Song of myself or 7 days to the wolves. But there are a lot more songs by them. (the band is at their best at live performances Wacken 2013, Tampere/London 2015 or Buenos Aires 2018)
Delain..Day for Ghosts feat Floor and Marco (bass player of NW) is also a Good song.
There are some duets from Floor Jansen and Simone Simons (singer Epica) online...Stabat mater Dolorosa comes to mind and Sancta terra, these are not symphonic metal songs but it gives you an example of the range of Floor and of Simone.
You can check out NightWish, Within Temptation, Epica or Delain these are all great bands in this genre...
Well until the next one...
....Have Fun 👊
I hear the rumble of the Nightwish army incoming... Please next react to Song of Myself, or Romanticide live at Wacken or Yousr is a Empty hope live at the Nightwish Cruise or Wembley
Actually they have a full orchestra and choir on the background track. Not sure if having the orchestra being present would make much difference.
In any case, if you want something more from the other band members you should try "I want my tears back" from the same concert. About her range, please listen to her duet with Henk Poort singing Phantom of the Opera.
Some of your assessment is on point, but you are way off on most of it. Floor Jansen is an amazingly talented and technical singer and one of my favorites, but so is the band. Tuomas (keyboards) is the mastermind writing a large majority of the songs and from what I’ve read: They recorded a live philharmonic orchestra for the shows so definitely not just mere samples. Their technicality is surpassed by none! They write and perform masterpieces. Not every song is written to show off their technical skills, but give what the song needs. That’s one of the things I love about them. The guitar solo in this song may be simplistic in its technicality, but sounded great for this song and would have ruined it if he would have just shredded to show off. There are many songs that you get to see and hear him (Emppu) shred away if the song calls for it and thoroughly impress. The same goes for the bass player (Marco), Tuomas, old drummer (Jukka) in this video and new drummer (Kai). They also have a multi instrumentalist (Troy) that wasn’t with the band yet in this concert that plays different kinds of flutes, guitars, and Uilleann pipes (similar to bag pipes) and extremely talented. I do hope you will continue your Nightwish journey and get to appreciate all they can do. “Music Soothes The Soul”.
David O'Toole Troy was with the band allready in this consert, not in this song though. He aswell as Floor were both allready a permanent member of Nightwish but it was not public yet.
He said it wasn't anything technically mind blowing, not that they're not talented musicians! He's actually very on point with all his comments. Don't be a typical butt-hurt Nightwish fan!
What I wish is that these reactors would give a chance to Tarja's performance of this song from End of an Era. Yes, Floors high note at the end is amazing. I'll admit it. But Tarja was the singer when I got into them, and it will always be her voice I hear for this song. She performs it greatly throughout. And Floor just amazes you at the end.
Next one: Nightwish - Yours is an empty hope
C'mon give him some time for that ;-)
He's not ready lol
Floor is both. She started singing in After Forever at16. At that point she was basically self taught. After attending the inaugural class of the Dutch Rock Academy she studied musical theater and a year of Opera at the Conservatorium Tilburg. The classical singing though was always to "support" her rock singing so she didn't retrain things she was already doing that worked for her. A good example of this if you watch some of her more classical pieces you will see she still uses "free jaw" vibrato. She is considered a three octave soprano C3 "Wild Card" live Eindhoven 2014 - F6 "Romanticide" live Ilosaarirock 2013, and then throw in some false cord growls & fry screams.
Yes the pipes are stage props for the keys. usually two Korg keyboards and a mixing station.
The orchestra/choir parts are tracked, not sampled. It is the London Philharmonic/London Metro Voices with arrangements by Nightwish's unsung honorary seventh member Pip Williams. I don't believe it is a monetary situation that keeps them from performing with them live, although I'm sure it was in the old days. Now I think it is probably more of...
1. I think Tuomas is kind of a perfectionist and it would probably drive him mad trying to handle that many people.
2. When Nightwish tours they are usually long tours versus one big show and traveling with the orchestra would not be very feasible. Although maybe the next time they play Wembley they could do it just for that one show.
3. Their sound engineer would probably quit :)
Symphonic metal week sounds good to me. Maybe some early Within Tempation, Epica, Dark Sarah, Visions of Atlantis, Leaves Eyes, Xandria, & Ex Libris would keep you busy.
Perhaps even something like a metal Monday. There are a lot of other great power metal, gothic metal, folk metal et. al bands that will feel left out otherwise.
It is a filarmonica that you hear with the keyboard player.
It is a choir with real voices, they are only pre-recorded.
Wait till you see them play a 20 minute song
Nightwish has live visual efects from 0-100 😉
Maybe from "Islander" one man and guitar to " The Greatest Show On Earth" full scale of visual elements utilization on the same concert Tampere 2015. 🤘😊👍
They have a real pre-recorded orchestra and choir. It's the same orchestra that recorded Lord of the Rings. Orchestras are typically $100/hr per member. Tuomas, the keyboardist/composer/songwriter has creative control over the band's content. There are some very heavy songs.
It's not.
@@pedroteran5885 noizr.com/articles/10-interesting-facts-about-nightwish/:1037/
This song came from the album, "Once".
Epica Sancta Terra live feat Floor Jansen (with orchestra and choir)
Floor attended the first ever Dutch Rock academy school of music, as far as being classically trained, she attended the Conservatorium Tilburg studing theater and opera, plus she was also a vocal teacher for a few years
As much as I'd like to see and hear Nightwish perform with an orchestra and choir you need to take into account:
This was the finale of the Imaginaerum world tour of 104 concerts over 572 days in 34 countries.
The cost and logistics of using an orchestra and choir would be prohibitive so I for one am more than happy to accept samples in live performances.
like Tuomas said it would be logistic nightmare.
Agreed. Every metal band that has used a full orchestra has done so for a single night, not an entire tour. It still doesn't mean that I don't want to see this song performed with an entire live set though :)
@@CriticalReactions i hope that they do it one day.
their bassist Marko published his solo album in Finnish earlier. now there is English version coming out at Friday, two song's already published, Stones and The voice of my father. take a look of them if you have time, i think it's worth of it.
@@CriticalReactions Yeah I'm actually surprised that they haven't done a 'one night' theatrical special performance with the whole shebang.
Floor is classically trained, you are right, and she can reach D6 note.
She does f6 in romanticide .. i dont know which gig exactly but she did it
React to wintersun: sons of winter and stars (live rehearsal at sonic pump studios)
Mikael Nuutila I second that. 🙂
Yeah man!!! Wintersun "Sons of winter and stars", "Time" and "Loneliness"
That would be nice, BUT you can't take the whole London Philharmonic Orchestra (about 60 musicians) + choirs where is about 30 singers, girls, boys, men and women with you on a world tour that includes over 100 gigs in a year all over the world 😄 And London Phillies has much more important to do too than travelling their ass off the world with NW. I wonder how much one concert ticket would cost IF EVERYTHING would be LIVE on stage with NW... 2000 euros maybe instead of 70€? But, yes it would be nice and also very possible that someday they will record ONE live concert with the London Phillies and with those choirs they have used, who knows, and make it as an ULTIMATELY LIVE DVD? 😎
Floor has soprano's range. D6 comes out just like that. In this I believe the highest note was at the end A5 flat. If you like to hear her singing D6 you should go her Beste Zangers song called the Phantom of the Opera. Last note is D6. I believe she can sing even F6. If you like to hear her growling listen Yours Is An Empty Hope (where Marco the bassist sings clean line and Floor growls like a beast). I never haven't study how low she can sing clean, but believe me she can sing every known song you put front of her. Range is wide!
A little bit about the boys. Marco the bassist can play piano/keys, drums, cello, violin, double bass, guitars, but he hasn't play all those for decades. Drums, bass, guitar is his main instruments. Tuomas the keyboardist can play piano related instruments and also he had played saxophone and clarinet. Troy (who wasn't on stage in this number) is the real multi-instrumentalist of the band. His list goes like: Uilleann pipes, wooden flutes (low pipes), tin whistles, bodhran, bouzouki, guitar, mandola, e-bow, piano, drums, bass, harmony etc... They all have studied music for years and years and they're the beasts with what they do on stage. Drummer is nowadays Kai Hahto who has studied drumming all his life and got some lessons and tips from many best rock, metal, jazz and other genres drummers. These guys are real top musicians.
Here's a few song you should listen (maybe react) to get a bigger picture their musicianship:
Romanticide live at Wacken 2013 (no digital backing tracks)
Poet And The Pendulum live at Wembley 2016
My Walden live at Tampere 2015
Yours Is An Empty Hope live at Baltic Princess 2015
Weak Fantasy live at Tampere 2015
Oh, and I forgot to mention their tribute song to Pink Floyd which they four of them play without any digital backing tracks: High Hopes from 2005 live in Helsinki. Bass player sings that song and the guitar player Emppu plays two pretty nice solos in there.
We all from the Nightwish Army and "Nightdreamers' Discord" love Floor so much because of her versatility, range and stage present. She is one of the best female vocalists in the world, and brought Nightwish to the absolute top level since Floor joined them. So happy to see Floor coming wednesday with her solo-tour in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
They keyboard solo occurs right after the second verse begins. Tuomas (the band's creator and songwriter and keyboard player) does as much as he can with the keyboards but alot of it is also the London Phil-Harmonic Orchestra. Tuomas uses 3 to 4 keyboards -- A KORG N364 (top mounted), KORG Kronos (bottom mounted), KORG Karma (to his left). And sometimes a KORG Triton on his right side. Strings, choirs and pads are his main staple. The N364 is known for its "BigStrings" sound which is what Tuomas uses as his signature sound.
They have the philharmonic orchestra on retainer if I understand correctly but they can't tour with an entire orchestra, it wouldn't be practical. So Tuomas composes the orchestral parts, the orchestra records them, and they're used as backing tracks
Nightwish is the one band that should have a live orchestra on stage but never come around to do that.
On the other hand,Nightwish don’t need it,everybody in this band are a mastermind of what they do.
Thomas (keyboard player)are the Mozart and Beethoven of this time.
I've heard that Tuomas would only consider doing a orchestral concert if he could book a venue in London. (Like Royal Albert Hall. A tough venue to book as it's pretty solidly booked in advance) and use the band's go-to orchestra, the London Philharmonic.
Green-Lyon I’ve heard that too.
Let’s hope it will happen someday.😊👍
While i agree on having the full orchestra and choir on stage with the band, the logistics and cost of having that on tour with them would be insane. Maybe for a special 1 off show in their home country of Finland would be doable, but not an entire tour or large festival event like Wacken where time between performers is short. but I'm with you that it would be phenomenal to see.
The "Organ" is a prop which covers 3 Keyboards, as you already figured out :-) afaik all 3 are Korg.
We would all love to see them live with an orchestra. Especially with the new album.
Refreshing to see a reaction from someone who has more music theory in the background and sees potential for more where others see perfection.
Band is, in my opinion, technically more impressive than is shown in this song, but they keep it in service of the song and the start of this song is the singer.
There's no band in the world who could or would afford an entire orchestra + choir.
Whistler4u Epica - Retrospect was a concert played with an entire choir and orchestra.
Cinderfall Gaming Yes. It was ”ones in the lifetime” celebration consert... and yeah. Really cool!
@@CinderfallGaming Metallica did that too. I was talking about going on tour with an orchestra
Playing with a recorded choir and symphonic part is extremly difficult to time. And Nightwish pulls that off.
Also look into different song to see what the band can do🤘🤗
It IS a real orchestra. It's a backing track with the London Symphonic Orchestra.
Welcome to the spotlight of the Nightwish Army, and to the family of reactors that we will follow, hoping to get more reactions.
I see that you have been thoroughly informed by other people so I won't repeat that. I hope you'll feed our addiction to react videos!
#wewerehere
Floor, harsher vocals: ua-cam.com/video/tIqzPXzhEuw/v-deo.html
Floor, deeper vocals: ua-cam.com/video/XtXqUNB8zrU/v-deo.html
Floor, higher vocals: ua-cam.com/video/plCScjvDOJM/v-deo.html
Floor, pop vocals: ua-cam.com/video/M68pe4a_9zk/v-deo.html
Floor, 80s vocals: ua-cam.com/video/OI2sojuvnrY/v-deo.html
Floor, operatic vocals: ua-cam.com/video/UeTyAZtV5wI/v-deo.html
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Whatever you need she has it
I can assure you that Nightwish is the kind of band where each member is as great as the others. So while Floor is an amazing singer, every member of the band is as amazing on their own lot. This is just the type of song that elevates the singer, and nobody goes off soloing on their own. I would encourage you to listen to more of their songs, the variation is wild. My personal favorites are "Ghost River" and "Weak Fantasy", though other people mainly recommend "Romanticide" and "Poet and the Pendulum".
Oh, and do ignore all the butthurt people here that are angry at anyone daring to criticize their favorite band, the song would obviously be elevated by having all the instruments played live. That would just have to be a very special kind of concert, and not in the middle of a huge european tour like this one.
The band is from Finland and founded in 1996. So far the band has had 3 vocalists
1 Tarja Turunen (Finish) pure opera voice also very good live. (until 2005)
2 Anette Olzon (Swedish) more pop style. fine in the studio but not good live. (until 2012)
3 Floor Jansen* (Dutch) (current). * She is the vocalist you saw in this clip. She has a classical vocal background education and can sing any style she likes from jazz to opera high to growling low. Believe me when i tell you you have not even scratched the surface yet of what she's capable of.
Band members
Tuomas Holopainen (The keyboard player and creative mind behind the band. He writes about 95% of the music and lyrics)
Marco Hietela (the viking with the long beard (Bass and vocals)
Jukka "Julius" Nevalainen (The drummer)
Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen (the hobbit like guitar player)
Troy Donockley ( a person who did not play on this song but is a multi instrumentalist from the UK)
The clip was shot a few months after Floor jointed the band right in the middle of their US leg of the world tour. They asked her to join after tensions between the previous (Anette) vocalist and the rest of the band had rissen so high that they fired her. With close to a year still to go to complete the tour, and their next concert planned 2 day later they, needed a replacement fast. They called Floor because she had toured with them when she was part of the support bands"After Forever" and later "Revamp" on several occasions and they were quiet impressed by her vocals (who would not be?). She only had 2 days, including a flight from the Netherlands to the US, to learn the setlist and only had one rehearsal with the band a couple of hours before her first show and nailed it. Since they were making a documentary about the world-tour a lot of what happened was recorded. The documentary is called "Please learn the setlist in 48 hours" (ua-cam.com/video/vhExkmWKMEU/v-deo.html )
As a next song to take a look at i would recommend their masterpiece "The poet and the pendulum" live at Wembley. Before you take a look at it i would recommend to take a look at the backstory of this song. This will make you appreciate it much more. here is the link ua-cam.com/video/gbn9GczYBkw/v-deo.html
BTW that last note she just sang? Nightwish fans created a whole new word for when she does something impressive like that. We call it a Floorgasm. Welcome to the club and boy are you going to receive a lot of traffic on your channel. ;-)
They not only have 1 very good singer, try the nw cover of pink floyd´s high hopes and the song "the carpenter" live @ Buenos Aires 2018.
And btw NW don´t need a orchestra they have Troy, even if he wasn´t in this one you going to "meet" him if you continue with them. Like i said above try "the carpenter"
If you want sections, try Poet and the Pendulum. Tuomas is considered to be one of the best modern composers. He probably wants to do concerts with symphony and choir but it hasn't been its time yet. The band has sold 10 million albums worldwide so they can afford to do it.
The orchestral sounds are the london philharmonic orchestra.
As far as I know theyre actually live with the band whenever thye play in london but due to logistics (and probably cost) its recorded when they tour in other countries.
But yea, its a good "sample"... cuz its a world renowned orchestra recording it.
thank you for your very thoughtful analysis. Nightwish is a very seasoned band an can do almost everything. Floor Jansen is probably the best female lead singer nowadays.Check out the dutch tv-show Beste zangers 2019, that will show her huge versatility as a singer. Greetings from Snowy Finland!
"Clasically trained" is a bit of an understatement. She studied singing full-time for six years in different directions: conservatory, rock academy, theater classes. When you do more Nightwish or Floor Jansen reactions, you'l find out she can literally sing any style she wants.
She studied under Valkyries in Valhalla, and was sent to Midgard to make every other singer on earth feel like a failure.
For a higher note, try Floor Jansen and Henk Poort - Phantom of The Opera (Live on Beste Zangers).
She also sings other great songs on that show in different genres with a metal twist, like "Winner" and Que Se Siente (four of the songs in different languages).
... and it's not keyboard sounds. The strings and choir are pre-recorded.
There IS a thing in her singing that's kinda her thing. It's best described as 'Everything'.
She likes to test her skills to every direction, She even wants the composers to challenge her.
The keyboardist is the main composer, the brains behind Nightwish, mostly - like people usually describe it as 90% of the stuff, but we may assume it's not really counted....
The bassist is helping him a lot. He has composed his own stuff in solo career, and for an older band he established wit his brother in the 80´s teen years already. Nightwish has been around since -96. And besides these 2 the others suggest their ideas as well.
She can even do growls, and really good growls
Here I am 2 years later... They have been asked several times why they don't use live orchestra on stage. The sort answer to that has always been "because everyone else have done it" (As an example, The Norweigian Symphonic Black Metal Band Dimmu Borgir, and the Norwegian orchestra "KORK" and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra) . Nightwish are huge, bigger than Dimmu Borgir, and they can clearly afford it. In fact. The orchestral back tracks you hear are played by The London Symphonic Orchestra....
I am in for now.
Floor brought me back to Nightwish so am forever grateful and will see them live 3 times in Europe at the end of the year!
There is a Japanese rock group called One Ok Rock that brings an entire orchestra to some of their tours. They are massive in their country.
I came here for the Jinjer. I almost subbed but I figured I'd check out some of your other reactions. Watching your Meshuggah, Unleash the Archers, and Gojira reactions lead me to this one. I Was already tipping over the edge but, ultimately, I'm a simple man. I see Nightwish, I subscribe.
All jokes aside, I really dig your technical breakdowns and discussion of the work as a whole when so many focus on a single element (in this case, the wonderful Floor). It's great to see someone who appreciates the artistry and skill of everyone involved.
No band on the planet is touring with an orchestra
Nobody can afford to travel with a full orchestra, even the biggest bands will only do this on special occasions.
The keyboardist Tuomas uses three keyboards. the third is off to his left.
The pipes are indeed stage dressing.
Floor is a classically trained exceptionally technical singer, has a 4 octave range (she's definitely sung an 8 second D6 in Phantom of the Opera) and can sing pretty much any style in multiple languages (Classical, Pop, Rock belting, death growls.)
As others have said they are all part of the whole, Floor being the front woman and oozing charisma stands out but through different songs you'll hear each member having their 'moment'
They are all very talented musicians but there's no room for egos, 10 minute drum solos or fretboard wanking in the band.
Orchestral stuff is recorded in a studio and composed by Tuomas, bringing the London Philharmonic Orchestra would be hideously expensive for a large multi-date tour over months and all over the world so they use their background recordings with extra synthesised sounds from Tuomas.
This song although a classic and favourite live is a tiny bit of what Nightwish are.
They run the gamut from gentle folk rock to balls to the walls heavy as hell (check out Yours is an Empty Hope at Wembley or the Nightwish Cruise - It's got a guitar riff like having a truck drive over your face!) They've also done a wonderful sexy jazz number (Slow Love Slow)
Their songs generally have multiple time signatures, breakdowns and shifting between major and minor keys etc, rarely a Nightwish song starts the same as it finishes.
Tuomas REALLY understands music (just ask Steve Harris from Iron Maiden who rates Tuomas as a musical genius and one of the top composers in the world today.)
GLS is a good start but there is sooo much more to this band and live they put on one hell of a theatrical show!
Forgot to add, people love the band because the band love each other and the fans, the current lineup are like family and they are obviously really tight on and off stage.
Lots of little jokes and messing about with each other on and off stage, they are so fun live and that is transmitted to the fans at a show.
Well apart from the music for me, it's the love for each other that stands out.
Interesting seeing this song reviewed from a technical standpoint by someone with your experience. My read on your review is that the song doesn't speak to you emotionally, whereas it really does to most Nightwish fans...and me. That might explain the like/dislike ratio, as some may find your review blasphemous. Objectively, I can't fault your review (Gave you a thumbs-up.) That said, I absolutely love this song.
Do not apologize for spending time with your family.
Usually singers do what they can do. Floor Jansen does what she wants to do :D That women is probably the best vocalist in the world at the moment when considering both, versatility and technical vocal quality.
Thanks for summoning the NIghtwish army of passionate fans from all over the multiverse to storm your YT channel with many more song requests from this unique band & stellar vocalists - yes, their bassist Marco/Marko Hietala is also an amazing vocalist, not to mention the one and only Floor Jansen. Floor had already been singing over an hour since this song was third to last in this Wacken Open Air 2013 show with over 80K people in the audience. P.S. One's family must always come first, regardless what any other youtubers might say. P.S.S. The strings are included in the backing audio track recorded with the London philharmonic orchestra as are several other instruments & the choir.
While not symphonic metal, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Rush - Xanadu. The recent loss of possibly rock's greatest drummer Neil Peart is difficult and this piece was a real showcase for him.
Fun to see another kinda perspective to this song. Could see the gears turning in your head.
Tough to bring an orchestra, real organ and a choir to a metal festival :D . Not only in money terms. Agree it would be cool to see Nightwish with all that.
Excellent review. I like hearing an informed and thought-out perspective on music.
Floor Jansen is the singer (of After Forever, which you mentioned). In my absolute amateur's reckoning, her range is at least from D3 to D6. I take those from her live performances in "Song of Myself" (D3) from Nightwish's Wacken 2013 performance. And her "Phantom of the Opera" performance (D6) from 2019's Beste Zangers TV show. Those are my guesses as to her range.
The band recorded the original album with a full choir and strings. They use a backing track while performing live and the drummer is playing to a click track to keep everything on perfect time with it.
The string and background vocals are on a backing track as mentioned below. It a feat in an of itself I think to be able to perfectly time the performance to the backing track. The drummer is following a click track to keep the band in sync with the backing track.
D6 is the highest sustained note that i heard her doing so far.
If you like this kind of music, check out Therion. Here's the link to a live show of theirs with an actual live orchestra and choir.
Part 1, Metal covers of classical compositions: ua-cam.com/video/y_Hwb26adXw/v-deo.html
Part 2, their own songs with the live orchestra: ua-cam.com/video/AS9r-SPVGQQ/v-deo.html
They both have timestamps to each track, so happy listening!
Did someone mention a symphonic metal live concert with orchestra and choir? Check this out:
Within Temptation & Metropole Orchestra + P'Dam choir: *Black Symphony*. Recorded live at The Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands on February 7, 2008 ---> @ Mother Earth clip. Enjoy :)
Floor says she is not a classical singer but has had some classical training. In fact, she can sing anything. They tour around the world, so it's impossible financially and logically to employ a live orchestra and a choir.
It was a festival so logistically they had to use a backing track.
Also logistically it would be tough to bring an orchestra for every date on the tour.
Dimmu Borgir do a full show with an Orchestra at the Wackem Open Air.
Floor Jansen is EXTREMELY versatile. She even growls XD
Also if you want Floor Jansen plus live orchestra AND a live choir? Check out her guest work on Sancta Terra by Epica (live concert version)
The orchestra and backing tracks (and at this point in their tours) wind instruments are on Pro Tools. They now have a live pipe player.
A full live orchestra is not required for this song. The orchestral parts only require a partial orchestra. The parts are recorded because the band already travels with 50+ people around the world. Also, there are three keyboards. The "pipes" are an art piece and was on loan. Nightwish also now has a person who plays Ulileann pipes (elbow pipes). The song was written with the second singer in mind. Check out Sancta Terra from Epica with an actual string section and choir and this singer sings with Epica.
What... this wasn't written with the second singer in mind, it was on the album "Once" recorded over 2 years before they were looking for a new singer.
Mr. Potato this was originally written with Tarja singing it. It was then adjusted for Anette (so you are technically correct). All of the songs in Nightwish’s repertoire are originally written for the current singer. When they are sung by subsequent singers, they have to be adjusted for that singer. Music 101. I love what Floor brings to the song, but she was not the original singer. In fact, not one song at Wacken Open Air in 2013 was - songs not written for Tarja were written for Anette. Floor mentioned this in an interview. It wasn’t until the Vehicle of Spirit tour that Floor got songs written specifically for her range.
It usually needs more than one song to grasp the whole capability of every band member. They use to play what fits into the composition, more than showing their skills. Ghost love score is often described as the shining moment for the singer (especially now with Floor Jansen). My opinion: Floor shines in every song, and in the 14 minute epos The poet & the pendulum she is shining like a supernova ;-)
So I'm curious about your further opinion, if you're going to continue this journey through the Nightwish catalogue. Currently this means some more than 100 songs, and in April they will release their next (long awaited) album.
Look to Floor Jansen and RLSQ (2009). Floor is singing "Energize me" without microphone accomponied by a fantastic stringquartet
Dynamics is the word I would use. They are masters of going from power to intimate. They are also masters at the build up. The pipes are just for decoration. Tuomas has 2 or 3 keyboards behind the pipes. floor Jansen is the former singer of After Forever. Floor can hit a D6 without any problem. They would sound great with a live orchestra, but the cost is so prohibitive they decide to use backing tracks instead. If you listen to other songs you would be impressed with all musicians. They do not over play. Only what the song requires. Try listening to "Devil and the Deep Dark Ocean" from their new Blu-ray "Decades". Then you will see what they are capable of doing live. One day I also hope they will do a special show with an orchestra. Check out more and you will see they are all quality musicians. BTW the backing tracks are real orchestra. The London philharmonic symphony.
Dynamics is certainly the word that I couldn't think of this morning. :)
Okay so you've gotten some recommendations (I've been a fan over a decade now), and yes Tuomas the keyboardist is the main composer and lyricist. He'll sometimes collaborate with Marco the bassist for the music, but his true "baby" are the lyrics. Tuomas also composed an album called "Music Inspired by the Life and Times of Scrooge" if you want to hear some solo work of his, because he is a huge Disney fan. Also their album Imaginaerum has 2 versions, one has the vocals and the other is instrumental/from the movie. Now, as their budget and reputation get bigger they have the chance for bigger projects but their earlier albums are more aggressive/metal. I would say Oceanborn and Wishmaster albums are the in between. Century Child and onwards take on a much more symphonic epic tone, with the budget for orchestra recordings and longer tracks. I would say you should listen to some tracks from all albums, because every album has a distinct aesthetic.
If you want some other nice metal recs, I'd say Gojira - Flying Whales (long track but very atmospheric), if you want more folk/primal then I'd recommend Heilung, if you want more Asian metal check out Chthonic who are a Taiwanese metal band (Takao is a good song of theirs), Master of Puppets of course by Metallica is a great song to listen to as well. Volbeat is a Danish metal band that has a sort of blues-y feel to them, Opeth are a very nice Swedish metal band too, they can be aggressive/black but also muted ballads. If you want cello covers/cello metal you should look into Apocalyptica, they do covers of metal songs with cellos and it can be a really nice "translation" hearing guitar riffs through a totally different instrument.
A bunch of things:
As has been said multiple times in other comments, there are no keyboard samples, rather you're hearing a recording of actual choirs and an orchestra. I suggest you watch this multi-part documentary to learn how Nightwish works with an orchestra and choir: ua-cam.com/video/BB1IrA8FwrY/v-deo.html
This reactor does a very good job of explaining what is going on with GLS. I suggest you watch it. ua-cam.com/video/IncK8u6jFSM/v-deo.html
Floor is reported to have an Eb2 - F6 range and she is described as a dramatic soprano, though she rejects that operatic label as having no meaning for a metal singer. She has had some classical training, but she says that it is not her thing. She defines herself as a rock/metal singer. Her range is wider than what is on display here.
She has been in three bands: After Forever, ReVamp and Nightwish, plus the hard rock project Northward. She has been a songwriter for all of those bands except Nightwish. ReVamp was her band and After Forever became her band over time. If you would like a sample of her vocal talents, check out on YT the Dutch TV show, Beste Zangers - Floor Jansen.
Nightwish is a band, not a collection of musical egos. They're all team players who perform what the song requires. GLS is about the vocals, but listen to other songs and different instruments play larger, more complex roles.
Musically they're defined as symphonic metal. In reality, they tackle a much broader range of genres, but always with that Nightwish sound. A lot of reactors make the mistake of thinking that GLS defines Nightwish. It does not.
You need to listen to more.
therea british music guy actually breaks this down and said how impressive this is. It was backtracked and the drummer has to be perfect to follow with the backtracked orchestra from an original version. Maybe do your homework. Tuomas is a fucking genius composer.